Magically Hot Surprise
by Yuoaj009
Summary: According to the guild, Natsu isn't good at choosing gifts. But he knows better. When Lucy is down with a cold, Natsu gifts her something special. One shot for Christmas, NaLu.


**A/N: I wrote a one-shot for Christmas. Although it is belated, I still hope you enjoy the read! Let me know your thoughts! Happy New Year in advance to all readers.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail! Only my imagination :)!**

* * *

Natsu entered the guild with a huge bag filled with small gifts. "Merry Christmas everyone!" He bellowed out at an incredible sound level. "Hello Natsu!" Mirajane said. "What have you brought along?"

"Ah, Mira, these are gifts for everyone!" Natsu proclaimed.

"Ohhhhhh!?" The whole guild suddenly seemed all ears.

Natsu grinned widely. Happy flew around in circles around Mirajane and her current customers, Gray and Erza.

"Natsu, I expect something good this year too," Erza warned him.

"As if that airhead can hand people anything but lame gifts," Gray insulted.

"Hey!" Natsu felt offended.

"Think about it, you flaming dork. Last year you handed each of us a stone from the pile you got as a reward for saving a town from some gigantic monsters," Gray pointed out.

"That was a rather beautiful gift, if I have to say so myself," Erza complimented.

Gray looked at her with disbelief. "Right.., but get my point?"

"This year though," Happy announced, "Lucy helped us out!"

"Ohhhhhhh!?" The guild shouted again.

"She did, huh? How nice of her," Mirajane commented as she wiped the top of the bar.

"Yep," Natsu proudly stated.

"Where is the woman who supposedly saved you the trouble then?" Gajeel appeared out of nowhere, actually very curious about the bag's contents.

"Down with a fever it seems," Charle announced from behind Natsu. Everybody stared at the white Exceed. "Wendy and I have just returned from visiting her," she said, hopping onto one of the stools in front of the bar.

"I have put a healing spell on her, but it looks worse than a slight fever. So it might not have been enough," Wendy explained.

"Thanks for the hard work," Erza embraced the little dragon slayer with one arm and gently patted her back. "Natsu!" She ordered, immediately switching on her stern side. "After you've given everyone their gifts, go check up on her!"

"_I was gonna do that anyway_," he whispered.

"Huh!?" Erza said, daring him to disobey her. "Nothing, nothing. No problem," Natsu quickly answered.

"Good," she turned to Mira, her scarlet hair flowing with her. "Another drink please, plus one for Wendy and Charle!" Mirajane smiled. "Coming right up!"

An hour later Natsu dropped by the bar to tell them he was leaving. "See you later!"

"If her headache hasn't lessened, please tell me. I will do my best to help Lucy," Wendy was very determined to heal the Celestial mage, so she could enjoy Christmas like the rest of them.

Natsu grinned at her. "Sure!" He then walked away in the direction of Lucy's apartment.

* * *

"Lucy?" He softly called out to the sleeping woman. "Hmmm?" She groaned. "How are you feeling?" He put his hand on her forehead, but felt stupid afterwards since his body temperature was higher than hers. "Sleepy. Go away," she said, as she turned around under her blankets. Natsu laughed. The noise had Lucy whining. "Natsuuu, tomorrow is another day, so bye," she told him, shifting herself into a comfortable position.

"I have a present for you," he said, ignoring her. "I'll have a look at it tomorrow," she promised. "No, now is better," he argued. Natsu lifted her wrapped in her blanket from the bed and carried her to her living room. There, the only light provided came from the lit candles on her coffee table. She didn't have the energy to retort, but was immensely annoyed that he disrupted her rest.

"Just sit here and watch," Natsu said. He quickly walked over to the corner of the room where he had prepared his surprise for her. Lucy knew her yet-to-be-decorated Christmas tree was in the same corner. She recalled the reason why she hadn't finished her preparations in her home. The day before yesterday she had returned from a week-long mission with the others. There was too little time left to decorate the place with a tree and pretty lights like she wished it would have been. Yesterday, she had spent the entire day helping Natsu and Happy with thinking of what gifts were appropriate for everyone in the guild. And today, the one day that she could transform her apartment, she couldn't even move properly because of her throbbing head. Sickness was the only thing that seemed to always have its timing right – not that the average human was happy with it.

Lucy noticed him lighting his hands on fire while he smiled to himself. "What are you doing?" She asked, suddenly afraid of the consequences to his actions.

"Merry Christmas, Lucy!" Natsu cheerily shouted. He clasped his hands together making the flames disappear. He concentrated intensely for a few seconds before he separated his hands. Lucy's curiosity was peeked when she saw his hands aglow, covered in a layer of extreme heat. Natsu carefully circled around the tree as he caressed something every second. Lucy had gotten up and was shuffling forward to take a closer look at what he was doing. Once she was at a good distance, Natsu warned her not to advance any further. Although she was used to his bizarre heat levels, she understood why. Besides, it wasn't necessary. From where she stood Lucy could perfectly see what Natsu was doing.

The tree was filled with lacrima balls of two different sizes. She watched the normal sized ones being lit up one by one, each a different colour. Fiery red, sunset orange, icy blue. Lucy was mesmerized by the tree magically being decorated as Natsu performed his magic. When he was done with the regular sized ones, he continued on to the tiny lacrima located in between all the others. Natsu rapidly shot fire from his fingertips. In no time he had them all sparkling a bright light yellow. "And the finishing touch," he announced as he pointed to the still transparent star on top of the tree.

"Want to guess the colour?" Natsu asked her. He had stolen glances at her during his performance. Lucy had been continuously in awe, which made him feel happy and satisfied. Natsu looked at the now pondering woman once again and smiled to himself.

"Red," she eventually answered.

Natsu's smile became a wide grin when he heard the response.

He threw a ball of fire which exploded into the star. Finally, it rained sparks around the tree implying the end of the show.

"It is really pretty," Lucy commented. "Thank you." She inched towards Natsu who simply stood there looking proud of himself. "Merry Christmas once again, Lucy," he told her.

"Merry Christmas, Natsu." She softly hugged him, savouring the feel of his warmth. It didn't matter that her blanket had evaporated into thin air because of Natsu forgetting to switch off his lava mode sooner. He waited a moment before wrapping his arms around her as well.

Lucy broke away first. "How did you do that?" She questioned. Natsu took her hand and put little stones on her palm. "Hey, aren't these...," she trailed off. "Yep, they are the stones from the reward last year. The ones I handed out to everyone in the guild," Natsu explained. "The ones that had everyone quirking a brow because they didn't know what they were, including me," she finished for him. He laughed. "Not that you told us what they were for," she continued, glaring at him. His laughter broke and he looked at her sheepishly.

He saw her curious gaze. She was awaiting his detailed explanation. "These stones," Natsu closed her hand, "are each made up of different metal salts. And when they are lit on fire a chemical reaction occurs which produces light stones. Or so the client had told us. I smashed them to pieces and put them inside the lacrima. It will hold for two days, because of the lacrima's magic."

The Celestial mage gaped at him. It wasn't often that he showed off his smarter side. "That's amazing," she said. "To think we thought them literally rubbish. That client must have been grateful." Natsu looked proud again. Lucy stared at the Christmas tree, specifically at the shining red star.

"How did you know I was going to say 'red'?" She asked. "I just guessed," Natsu casually remarked. Lucy was sure that wasn't it. He didn't make any eye contact. In fact, he had wanted it to be the colour of his guild mark. To him it was proof that this was his gift to her.

Having been lost in thought, he turned his body to the right. The flaming lacrima from the tree shone upon his guild mark, which in turn lit up brightly. When he faced her again, the mark went back to normal. "Your guild mark was glowing," Lucy told him. She observed his movements as he deliberately directed his arm to the lacrima and back again.

Natsu smiled again. "Awesome, isn't it?"

It took her a minute to realize what he meant. "The lacrima actually shows whose fire is inside?" Lucy was impressed by the advanced magic lacrima had these days.

Natsu was glad they were alone. It made the moment even more special. It was something he had thought up of for her and he had wished for her to enjoy these minutes to the fullest. However, he remembered Lucy was actually supposed to rest and regretted having forced her out of it just a little.

"I'll get going then," he was suddenly ready to jump out the window. Lucy hit him on his arm. "Get down. Close that window, it's freezing," she ordered. He obeyed. "Right, I have to put you in bed again," Natsu randomly decided. "What? No, I, AH," Lucy stuttered as she was helplessly lifted once more.

While he carried her to the bedroom, she was still thinking about how they had coincidentally picked the same colour for the star on the Christmas tree. Lucy wanted it to be red because she thought it was the exact colour that described Natsu through and through. She leaned against him, feeling very tired again after the excitement from before.

When Natsu reached the bed and put her down, Lucy was somehow already asleep. With her direct heating source gone, she had started to shiver. He noticed and started to carefully rummage around in her closets until he found other blankets. Natsu smiled and softly covered her with the blankets preventing any cold air from entering. "Good night, Lucy." Natsu bent down to lightly kiss her forehead. "See you tomorrow," he whispered.

Entirely content with how it had all turned out, he cast one last look at his creation before leaving Lucy's apartment through the door. Natsu quietly began to walk in the direction of the guild. One thought wandered through his mind as he left his footprints on the snow covered ground. This would most definitely not be the last surprise he would give his best friend. There was plenty of time for lots of surprises.

For in the many years that were to follow after this one, Natsu would be there with her. Wasn't that a given?


End file.
